Self-Serving Assessments of Fairness and Pretrial Bargaining

A persistently troubling question in the legal-economic literature is why cases proceed to trial. Litigation is a negative-sum proposition for the litigants-the longer the process continues, the lower their aggregate wealth. Although civil litigation is resolved by settlement in an estimated 95 percent of all disputes, what accounts for the failure of the remaining 5 percent to settle prior to trial

The Impact of Fairness on Decision Making - An Analysis of Different Video Experiments

Experimentally observed deviations of behavior from game theoretic predictions suggest that fairness does influence decision making. Fairness in the sense of equality has become an essential element of economic models aiming at explaining actual behavior (cf. Fehr and Schmidt, 1999; Bolton and Ockenfels, 2000). In this paper I will argue that equality is not the only fairness norm to be taken into account. More equity norms than equality exist, including inequality of payoffs. Since inequitable payoff allocations are advantageous for the one player and disadvantageous for the other, subjects may fall prey to a self-serving bias in their fairness perceptions. Opponents may adhere to different conceptions of fairness making agreement impossible. Using the video method (Hennig-Schmidt, 1999) I further show in a bargaining experiment that behavior is goal-oriented. Fairness criteria based on equity norms guide the formation and adaptation of aspiration levels.experimental economics, video experiments, fairness, equity principle, self-serving bias, aspiration levels, decision making

Is Agricultural Policy Decoupling against Human Nature? Experimental Evidence of Fairness Expectations’ Contributions to Payment Incidence

The objective of this research is to measure individuals’ fairness expectations and relate them to their market behavior in a private-negotiation institution. By doing this, we may inform model parameterization of field data and increase understanding of payment incidence causation. We hypothesize agents will change both their market and UG behavior when the tenant/proposer receives a subsidy following a successful negotiation. We also hypothesize that agents’ market behavior does relate to their fairness expectations in the UG. Two economic experiments were developed to test our hypotheses, a market and an ultimatum bargaining game experiment. We recruited 106 undergraduate students and conducted the experiments in an experimental laboratory using a computer based market mechanism. Our findings suggest fairness expectations need to be considered as a possible constraint on agents’ profit maximization behavior in land markets. The experimental evidence indicates market sellers or landlords demand higher land rental prices when tenants receive per-unit subsidies. Their ability to obtain a higher price appears to be more formidable in markets with limited matching opportunities. We conclude fairness expectations may constrain individuals’ profit-maximization behavior in the land market and, in turn, affect payment incidence in this market.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Learning from Strike

This paper reports on an experimental study of the influence of asymmetric information and information spillovers on bargaining outcomes. It develops and tests Kuhn and Gu (1999) s model of learning in sequential wage negotiations, by means of two Ultimatum Bargaining Games with uncertainty on the proposer s side. Evidence shows that Dunlop s assertion of inflationary wage claims does not hold systematically and strike incidence is lowered by information spillovers, since claims are revised according to the previous bargaining outcomes. However, in the presence of fairness concerns, the ability to observe outcomes but not the bargaining process does not entail a reduction in information asymmetry sufficient to guarantee Pareto improving bargaining outcomes. Ce papier présente une étude expérimentale sur l'influence des asymétries d'information et de la diffusion de l'information entre firmes sur l'issue des négociations. Nous proposons un prolongement ainsi qu'un test du modèle de Kuhn et Gu (1999) concernant l'apprentissage dans des négociations séquentielles. Nous utilisons pour cela deux jeux d'ultimatum avec incertitude du coté du proposant. Les résultats expérimentaux montrent que l'hypothèse de Dunlop d'un biais inflationniste systématique des revendications salariales n'est jamais vérifiée et que conformément aux prédictions de Kuhn et Gu, la probabilité d'apparition d'une grève diminue en présence de diffusion de l'information. En effet, une révision des demandes en fonction du résultat des négociations passées est observée dans les données expérimentales. Pourtant, observer seulement le résultat des négociations passées et non le processus de négociation ne suffit à garantir une augmentation Pareto optimale des gains des joueurs. Les préoccupations d'équité entravent les effets bénéfiques de la diffusion de l'information entre firmes.Asymmetric Information, Experiments, Learning, Strikes, Ultimatum Bargaining Games, Asymétrie d'information, Expérimantations, Apprentissage, Grève, Jeux d'ultimatum

Reciprocal fairness and gift exchange practices in the labor

We aim at investigating to what extent reciprocal considerations, exhibited by employers and employees, should lead to stable gift exchange practices in the labor contract, giving rise to non- compensating wage differentials among industries. We use the concept of Sequential Reciprocity Equilibrium developed by Dufwenberg & Kirchsteiger (1998) to incorporate players’ preferences for reciprocity in their utility function. We model the labor relation through a one shot sequential gift giving game between an employer who proposes a wage given the employee’s profitability level as exogenous and an employee who chooses his level of effort. We show that successful gift exchange practices may arise if both players are actually motivated by reciprocity. Even though intentions act as a catalyst of opportunistic behaviors, the respect of the equity norm makes mutual cooperation more likely. We propose a direct evaluation of the determinants of gift exchange practices between French employers and employees, estimating the probabilities to observe productivity increases following upon the settlement of rent-sharing agreements in the firm. Whether we estimate the probability for the employer to propose a rent-sharing agreement or the probability for the employees to raise their effort, we show that there exists an endogeneity bias related to the variable chosen as proxy to express the agents’ perception of their opponent’s fairness. This result gives support to the hypothesis that French employers and employees’ decisions are directly influenced by reciprocity concerns. Our results give support to the Akerlof & Yellen’s fair wage effort hypothesis as an explanation of the persistence of non-compensating wage differentials.employment relationship, gift exchange game, reciprocity, rent sharing

Wage Dispersion and Firm Productivity in Different Working Environments

This paper investigates the impact of wage dispersion on firm productivity in different working environments. More precisely, it examines the interaction with: i) the skills of the workforce, using a more appropriate indicator than the standard distinction between white- and blue collar workers, and ii) the uncertainty of the firm economic environment, which has, to our knowledge, never been explored on an empirical basis. Using detailed LEED for Belgium, we find a hump-shaped relationship between (conditional) wage dispersion and firm productivity. This result suggests that up to (beyond) a certain level of wage dispersion, the incentive effects of “tournaments” dominate (are dominated by) “fairness” considerations. Findings also show that the intensity of the relationship is stronger for highly skilled workers and in more stable environments. This might be explained by the fact that monitoring costs and production-effort elasticity are greater for highly skilled workers and that in the presence of high uncertainty workers have less control over their effort-output relation and associate higher uncertainty with more unfair environments.linked employer-employee data, personnel economics, working environments, labour productivity, wage dispersion

On ultimatum bargaining experiments: A personal review

Bargaining

Does Laboratory Trading Mirror Behavior in Real World Markets? Fair Bargaining and Competitive Bidding on EBay

We conducted a controlled field experiment on eBay and examined to what extent both social and competitive laboratory behavior is robust to institutionally complex real world markets with experienced traders, who selected themselves into these markets. EBay’s natural trading system provides bridges between lab and field environment that can be exploited to explore differences in behavior in the two environments. We find that many sellers do not make use of their commitment power as predicted by standard theories of both selfish and social behavior. However, a concern for equity strongly affects outcomes and reputation building in bilateral bargaining, while buyer competition effectively masks this concern and robustly yields equilibrium outcomes. The dichotomy of behaviors mirrors observations in laboratory research. Furthermore, we find that behavioral patterns in the field experiment mirror fully naturally occurring trading patterns in the market.eBay, auctions, behavioral economics, trust, market design

Learning from Strikes

This paper reports on an experimental study of the influence of asymmetric information and information spillovers on bargaining outcomes. It develops and tests Kuhn and Gu's model (1999) of learning in sequential wage negotiations, by means of two Ultimatum Bargaining Games with uncertainty on the proposer's side. Evidence shows that Dunlop's assertion of inflationary wage demands does not systematically hold and strike incidence is lowered by information spillovers, since demands are revised according to previous bargaining outcomes. However, in the presence of fairness concerns, the ability to observe outcomes but not the bargaining process does not entail a sufficient reduction in information asymmetry to a point of guaranteeing Pareto-improved bargaining outcomes.asymmetric information; experimental economics; learning; strikes; ultimatum bargaining games